Orchids The International School unveils largest Horticulture Facility at Thoraipakkam

• Students from Grade 1 to 10 will be taught the horticulture curriculum

Chennai, April. 11: Orchids The International School (OIS) recently unveiled a large scale Horticulture facility at its Thoraipakkam branch. The unveiling was done in the presence of special guests, Mr. Mahendran Deputy Commissioner of Police Adyar District, Chennai City Police. He did a campus tour and  interacted with  the students and said "Students at Orchids get ample opportunities to observe, explore and revise the concepts, which brings holistic development of the child and helps to build a confident personality."

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The horticulture curriculum is titled as ‘Little Green Fingers’. It will be taught for students from Grade 1 to 10 and will include both theory and practical classes. While speaking about the initiative, Ms.Sakina Qasin Zaidi, Vice President of Academics at Orchids The International School said "We aim to nurture a sense of sustenance and conservation among the students. The horticulture curriculum is a step in that direction. Apart from learning the science behind the growth of plants , children will also learn to harvest these plants and sell them in the market through our budding Farmer's market. This gives them dual benefit of learning horticulture along with financial literacy curriculum. We are getting overwhelming response from children as well as parents for our horticulture initiative. "

(L to R) Mahendran Deputy Commissioner of Police Adyar District, Chennai City Police; Sakina, Academic Head, Orchids The International School; Jemi Sudhakar, Principal; Shiv kumar, City Head

Adding further details about the program Dr. Jemi Sudhakar, Orchids The International School, Thoraipakkam said "Adhering to the NEP 2020 norms, Orchids The International School is the first  school in chennai to implement horticulture as part of its curriculum. The polyhouse at the Thoraipakkam branch covers a land area of 500-1000 sq.ft. The students of each grade will have one class per week to learn about different aspects of horticulture. Students will be taught to monitor and maintain the horticulture setup. The course has been divided into 10% theortical and 90% practical learning."

The school chain has collaborated with special science teachers and technical gardeners for the implementation of the curriculum. Students will also get to experience vegetation such as climbers, creepers, shrubs herbs, medicine plants, taproots, and fibrous roots plants. Through the curriculum, they will also get the opportunity to learn about modern farming methods, the preparation of manure, usage of weedicides and insecticides as pest control. 

Recently, Orchids The International School’s Thoraipakkam branch successfully conducted a Budding Farmer Activity. This had combined learning from the Financial Literacy and Horticulture curriculum.  Budding Farmers Market is an event where the students sold their own cultivated crops to parents in a market-style setting. This helped them gain practical knowledge about marketing as well as built in a sense of responsibility. One of the key features of the horticulture curriculum is to develop entrepreneurial skills among the students.

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